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Postgame interview with Terry Francona

Postgame interview with Terry Francona

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Terry you guys have won 11 in a row against the Angels in the playoffs. Can you talk about your success against this team?

MANAGER FRANCONA: That is so far in the past, and in about 10 minutes tonight it will be in the past. Every game is what we're lookin' to do. What happened in '04 or 1986 does not matter to us. We set out to win today's game, it was difficult, but we did it. Now we'll go prepare for the next game.

Terry, considering how few at bats Drew has had since he got hurt, is it surprising to see him swing the bat this well and come through at this point?

MANAGER FRANCONA: I don't think it would surprise me, or we wouldn't have played him, but I heard him talk about trying to swing at strikes.

It's not as easy to do that as it sounds, but he's tried to grind out his at bats, he's not gotten overanxious, and, again, that's -- it's a huge hit. I mean, it's a game changer and, regardless, you see how they have to pitch him.

That at bat, he was throwing him, like he said, he started him with a fastball and then he went exclusively soft because you have to respect his bat and what he can do, and if you make a mistake he can hit it out of the ballpark.

Could you talk about the attention at that point in the game when Drew came up and how relieved you were or if there was relief after he hit the home run?

MANAGER FRANCONA: The attention?

No, how the tension it was.

MANAGER FRANCONA: Did I look bad?

No, just during the game, tie game and

MANAGER FRANCONA: I don't know, I was -- it was actually kind of enjoyable, again, now, you get nervous, a little anxiety, but I don't think we felt any more tense than -- there was a lot happening in that game.

Certainly you feel better with the lead, but our guys have been through a lot, a lot of games, and, you know, you win or lose I don't think is going to hinge on the tension in the dugout.

What do you think of Dice K's start and the way he got out of that fifth inning after the R.B.I. single?

MANAGER FRANCONA: I tell you what, that's the ultimate tight rope. I think in the fourth and fifth he threw 61 pitches and there was a lot going on. I said before the game that he doesn't give in, he certainly didn't. He finds a way to make pitches and those were two tough innings. But he finds a way to make a pitch, but, boy, they made him work.